Friends With Benefits
by buffyfaith19
Summary: Femslash. Cindy/Lindsay. With Cindy and Lindsay getting closer over the last few months, a murder of someone close to them and an attack on Cindy brings them even closer.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Friends with Benefits

**Show: **Women's Murder Club

**Pairing:**Cindy/Lindsay

**Rating. **T

**Summary: **With Cindy and Lindsay getting closer over the last few months, a murder of someone close to them and an attack on Cindy brings them even closer

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. The characters belong to James Patterson, ABC and 20th Century Fox Television.

**Chapter 1**

Cindy Thomas opened the door of her small, yet duplex, stepped inside and let out a sigh of relief at being able to finally sit down and relax after another exhausting day. She sat down her purse, walked into the kitchen and grabbed a nice cold bottle of water and as she was about to turn and leave, she noticed a car in the back alley.

It wasn't moving, yet the engine was running and there were two people inside. She stepped to the side to get out of the way, but when she looked back the car was empty and she saw two men walking into her back yard. She rushed to the backdoor to make sure it was locked and then rushed back to the front door to make sure it was locked. Once she felt somewhat safe, she pulled out her cell phone and called Lindsay.

"Boxer here." Lindsay said as she finished up some last minute paperwork.

"Lindsay, I need you to get over here now." Cindy said as she peaked out her front window.

"Here is where?"

Ducking back down on the sofa, Cindy finally got around to answering Lindsay, "I'm at my house and there are two men outside. I don't think they are here to sell vacuums."

"Why would someone be after you Cindy? What did you do?" Lindsay asked, trying to muffle her laugh.

"Hey, what kind of question is that?" Cindy asked with a laugh, knowing Lindsay was probably right, "I'm here hiding in fear and you're acting like it's my fault?"

"Well Cindy, chances are you asked the wrong question of the wrong person and pissed someone off." Lindsay grabbed her coat and walked out to her car, "So, it would help to know who you pissed off this time."

Cindy gave her cell phone a dirty look, wishing Lindsay were able to see it, "Oh fine, let's just sit and chat about everyone I talked to in the last year and see if we can find out who wants me dead."

Smiling at Cindy's sarcasm, Lindsay couldn't help but smile back, "I think if you narrowed it down to the last 24 hours it would suffice."

Cindy heard a noise coming from her kitchen and began to panic, "They're inside. I know it. Where the hell are you?"

Lindsay's face turned white and she put her foot hard on the gas, "I'm a couple blocks away. If you think they're inside, get out of there now."

Two men stormed into the living room, grabbing Cindy before she could get out the front door and quickly covered her face with a blanket. They dragged her kicking and screaming through her house and out into her backyard.

Lindsay pulled up and saw Cindy's door wide open. She slammed on the breaks and ran towards her house. Moments later she heard Cindy screaming and ran towards the sounds. Gun out, she moved through the house, quickly following the screams outside, stopping at the back door as she spotted the two men dragging Cindy towards their car.

With very few options at her disposal, Lindsay ran into the back alley and pointed her gun at the two men, "Stop right there."

The two men turned to see a gun pointed at them. They pushed Cindy to the ground, got in their car and took off in a flash. Lindsay rushed over to Cindy and knelt down beside her, "Are you okay?"

Cindy smiled at the sight of Lindsay, "I'm doing a bit better now that you finally showed up."

"Well, I like to make an entrance." Lindsay smiled, helping Cindy to her feet, "So did you recognize the men?"

"No, my face was kind of covered up, but I did get the license plate number and heard one of the men call the other one Kev."

Lindsay nodded and put her arm around Cindy's waist, "Let's get you back inside."

Once inside Lindsay made a call to check on the plates and asked to be informed once they had a match. She then went about closing and securing all the windows and locking both doors before walking over and sitting down beside a still shaken Cindy, "Well, this is sure a dramatic way to get me to come over."

"Very funny." Cindy said, shaking her head at her pretty friend, "But, now that you're here I hope you'll stay. I just don't want to be alone tonight. You can sleep in the spare room if you want."

"First of all you don't have a spare room, "Lindsay smiled at the pretty redhead, "And no, I won't be staying here, because you're coming with me."

"What?" Cindy asked in a confused whisper.

Lindsay continued to look around, stopping momentarily to respond, "They know where you live. It's not safe here, so you can spend the night at my place."

Cindy smiled slightly, clearly surprised by Lindsay's invitation, "You don't have to do that. I'm pretty sure you scared them away."

"It wasn't a request." Lindsay said, staring down Cindy with her well practiced glare, "Get some things and let's get moving. But first, you need to tell me what the hell is going on here. This wasn't random and you know it."

"Fine, but you're not going to like it." Cindy said as she slipped down the hall to her bedroom.

Lindsay shook her head and smiled as she followed Cindy down the hall, stopping just outside her bedroom door, "Why am I not going to like it?"

Cindy couldn't help but smile at Lindsay's exasperated tone, "I was just trying to prove I belonged."

"You don't have to. You're part of the team." Lindsay said, as she leaned back against the wall, "We all respect you, so please just stop whatever it is you're doing before you get hurt, or worse."

"I think it's too late for that." Cindy replied softly, cringing at the response she was going to get.

Lindsay couldn't stand still any longer and turned and walked into Cindy's bedroom. She began to speak, but as she saw Cindy standing in her bra and panties she quickly turned around and stood silent.

"Well, maybe I'll just wear this all night and you'll forget about giving me another lecture." Cindy said with a smile, reaching out and grabbing a pair of jeans from her bed.

"Oh no, you aren't getting out of this one." Lindsay said, turning around in time to see Cindy zipping up her jeans, "Now, what have you been investigating?"

Cindy took her sweet time searching for a top, finally stopping to reply, "I told you I was trying to prove myself. You three have so much experience with all this. I just wanted to show you that I could bring down someone big."

"Bring down?" Lindsay asked, her face contorting as she tried to comprehend Cindy's choice of words, "You aren't a cop. You can't BRING down anyone. You can get yourself killed though by digging up something you shouldn't."

"Look, it was all going just fine until this morning." Cindy said, her ever present smile fading as she remembered the rather bizarre conversation she'd witnessed, "Could you please promise not to yell?"

Lindsay gritted her teeth at being asked such a thing, "I don't yell."

Cindy's smile quickly returned, "Oh yes you do."

"Fine, I won't yell." Lindsay agreed, somehow never being able to stay mad at the cute redhead who constantly tested her patience.

"Thank you." Cindy said with a big grin, finally slipping on a blue t-shirt, "Okay, I've been trying to get information on a well known mobster in the area and I wasn't having much luck, so I decided to get a little closer to the people around him."

"You did what?" Lindsay asked, her voice rising to a very high decibel.

Staring back at Lindsay with a disapproving glare, Cindy shook her head at the tall slender detective, "You promised."

Taking a deep breath, Lindsay smiled and began again, "Who are you talking about?"

A long pause followed as Cindy paced back in forth in front of Lindsay, "I looked at the FBI most wanted list and well, the only name on the list that was remotely tied to San Francisco was Andrei Shemkenov, he's only number 23 by the way. Anyway, he's a purported mob boss of the SF chapter of the Tambov Gang, which in turn is connected to a notorious crime organization based in St. Petersburg, Russia."

Lindsay didn't take near the long pause to respond, "You have got to be kidding me?" she asked, tossing her arms in the air, "Do you have any idea what will happen to you if he ever finds out you've been snooping around his business?" Lindsay asked, but as soon as she saw Cindy's lips about to move, she put her finger up against her soft lips, "Don't answer that."

Cindy stood silent, staring at Lindsay's long finger still pressed against her lips. After a couple questioning glances, Lindsay removed her finger, "Thank you."

"I'm not done yet." Lindsay said, taking Cindy by the hand and sitting her down on the bed, "Okay, what I'm about to say is coming from your friend, not the cop. I want you to stop this right now. I don't want to see anything happen to you. I don't think you understand what you might've gotten yourself into. I've grown very fond of you over the last few months and the thought of you ending up in the morgue scares me and I don't like being scared."

Clearly surprised by Lindsay's reaction, Cindy looked back into Lindsay's eyes, squeezed Lindsay's hands and smiled, "Okay, I get it. I went a little too far. I never meant for it to get this out of hand." Getting up from the bed, Cindy walked over to her dresser and stared into the mirror with a somber frown, "I found out something about someone you know and it's not good. I don't know what to do about it."

Curious as to what Cindy was referring to, Lindsay got up and stood behind her, "Just tell me the truth. Whatever it is we'll deal with it."

Turning to face the tall brunette, Cindy let out a deep sigh, "It's Luke Bowen. I'm pretty sure he's an informant for Shemkenov."

Lindsay's eyes grew big and her head instinctively began shaking no, "That has to be a mistake. I've ran a background check on him and he came up clean."

Cindy felt guilty even mentioning what she saw, "I'm sorry, but this morning I was having a meeting outside Shemkenov's mansion with this guy who's a grunt in his organization, just casually trying to pump him for information when Luke came up to the main gate."

"That doesn't mean anything." Lindsay said, hoping so much that she was right.

"There's a speakerphone attached to the gate and obviously Luke didn't care or didn't realize anyone else was around, but he was having one hell of an argument with someone on the other end." Cindy said, hating the look of disappointment she'd brought to Lindsay's face, "Anyway, I couldn't hear it all, but I heard enough. Luke wanted to be done with Jill for cheating on him and I guess the person on the other end was telling him to go back and do his job and to take his stupid pride and shove it. I heard Luke yelling not to use his family against him, but in the end he seemed to have no choice and he drove off."

"I can't believe this." Lindsay said, countless emotions racing through her head as she thought about everything she'd just heard, "Okay, there's so many things I want to say right now, but first things first. You are done going to this mobster's house, home, mansion or anywhere he might be. Your investigation is now over. I'll deal with Luke. If what you just told me is true, then chances are his connection to Jill isn't just a coincidence."

Cindy walked over to her night stand, opened the drawer and pulled out a large folder, walked back over and handed it to Lindsay, "This is everything I've uncovered about Shemkenov as well as Luke's involvement. You'll see that it is more than likely related to the death of one of his long time associates, Evgeni Dmitriev."

Lindsay took the folder and sat down and began reading. After glancing at page after page of information regarding Andrei Shemkenov's organization, she flipped through a section on Luke Bowen and shook her head as she came to the end, "How long have you known that he was involved with Shemkenov?"

"Don't be mad, but I didn't have any facts before. I didn't even know what his connection was until this morning." Cindy added, her gaze moving from the carpet to Lindsay and back again, as she tried to get everything out in the open, "Once I began to dig into his background I learned about his mother's health problems and that's when Shemkenov stepped up, offering him some financial help in return for a favor down the line. Once I found out Jill was involved, I simply began searching for any connection between Jill and Shemkenov and presto, that's when Evgeni's name came up."

Lindsay paused at the mention of Evgeni's name before finally making the connection, "I vaguely recall her prosecuting him. This was 5 or 6 years ago. She was new on the job and she was determined to put him away. It turns out he was innocent, but he died in prison before we was exonerated."

Cindy nodded, "Yes, that's more than enough motive for a man like Shemkenov."

"Yes, but why wait so long?" Lindsay asked rhetorically, getting up and pacing back and forth in front of Cindy, "I think something else is going on here and we need to find out what it is.'

"Great, where do you want to start?" Cindy asked, more than a little pumped at the idea of working with Lindsay.

"Sit your cute little butt back down." Lindsay said, quickly deterring her excited friend, "This is a police matter now. I'm not happy with how you came about all this information, but if it helps Jill out I'll be grateful, but your part is over. Now get your things together and I'll meet you at the car."

"Lindsay." Cindy yelled as she watched Lindsay walk out of her bedroom. Knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere by screaming, Cindy packed a few things and followed Lindsay out to her car, still smiling that Lindsay mentioned her butt was cute.

** San Francisco Police Department.  
Jill Bernhardt's office.  
**

Jill Bernhardt sat at her desk, looking over a motion she was going to be filing tomorrow in court. She looked at the clock on the desk, let out an audible moan as she saw it was close to midnight and she was still working away.

As she put the finishing touches on her motion, she got up, stretched her legs and began to get ready to head home.

Before she even got her coat on her boss walked in looking less than happy, which normally wouldn't be a surprise, but this time it wasn't anger showing on her face, it was sadness.

Instantly Jill knew something was wrong, "What is it?"

Denise stepped inside Jill's office, closed the door behind her and walked up to Jill, "There's been an accident."

"Oh god. Who?" Jill asked, closing her eyes hoping she'd wake up and it would all be dream.

Waiting for Jill to open her eyes, Denise continued on in a slow solemn voice. "It's Luke Bowen. His car went over a cliff near Devil's Slide and he died instantly upon impact."

Jill's face went white with shock and disbelief, stumbling backwards, her desk the only thing keeping her from hitting the floor.

Moving quickly towards Jill, Denise helped steady the distraught DA, "I'm sorry. I know how much you cared about him."

After taking some long deep breaths, Jill opened her eyes, "Are you sure it's him?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is. They verified it at the scene." Denise added quickly, pausing just enough to make Jill uneasy.

"What was that?" Jill asked as she stepped back and glared at Denise, "You hesitated. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Shaking her head and letting out a sigh, Denise nodded her head, "There's one other thing, but we're still investigating it."

"Just tell me. I deserve to know."

"From the initial reports I've got, it appears there were two witnesses at the scene." Denise added, pacing slowly in front of Jill, "They say they saw two men leaving the scene just after the car went off the cliff. Now the problem is the two witnesses were drunk out of their mind and even if they could identify the two men, they'd be horrible witnesses at any trial."

"I don't care." Jill yelled, turning away from Denise, looking out the window, before turning back again, "I want them brought in and I want to talk to them personally."

"I can't do that." Denise said shaking her head, "You're too close to this case. Let me handle this, okay? I promise I will do everything in my power to find out if this was more than just an accident."

Knowing she had no real choice, Jill reluctantly shook her head in agreement, "I still want to be part of this investigation. Let me watch you interview the witnesses, let me in on any evidence you might have and I'll happily let you handle this."

"Okay, I'll keep you informed, but you need to stay in the background." Denise said calmly, but firmly, "Listen, let me take you home. You're in no condition to be driving."

"I'll be fine. I promise." Jill said with the best smile she could manage.

"Maybe I should I call Lindsay."

"No, it's too late; she's been working 12 hour shifts for so long." Jill said, still more concerned about her friend than her own well being, "Tonight is the first night she went home at a decent hour. There's nothing she can do right now. I'll call her in the morning."

Denise smiled, "Well, you could use some sleep as well." She turned to walk out of Jill's office, but stopped and walked back and stood in front of Jill, "I just don't feel right letting you go home alone, I insist on driving you. Please don't make me get out the cuffs."

Jill had another reluctant smile, "Okay, I know you're right, so lead on boss."

**End of Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Lindsay Boxer's Home.  
**

Lindsay tossed her jacket on the sofa, turned on the lights and waved her arm around her humble home, "This is it. Nothing fancy, but it works for me."

"I like it. It's different, but nice." Cindy said as she looked around the place, "Besides, I already feel safe, so I'm more than happy to be here."

Lindsay smiled and motioned for Cindy to follow, "Good, let me show you to the spare bedroom, it's not much either, but I think you'll find it more than adequate."

Down the hall and the first door on the left was a small room, complete with bed and that's about it. No table, no chair, no other furniture or any other item around, just a bed.

Cindy tried to hold in her displeasure at the situation, looking up at Lindsay with an attempt at a smile, "Yes, this will be fine."

"You hate it don't you?" Lindsay said with a sigh, "I've been meaning to fix it up a bit, but I just never seem to find the time. Look, you take my bed and I'll sleep here."

"Are you crazy? I can't do that." Cindy said, taking a step inside the small room, "This is more than okay. I appreciate you letting me stay here; I'm not going to kick you out of your own bed as well."

Lindsay still felt guilty at having Cindy stay in her prison like bed, "I didn't really think ahead when I asked you to come stay here. I should've thought this out more. Let me go to the store and get some things for this room. Spruce the place up a bit."

As Lindsay walked out of the bedroom, Cindy followed behind puzzled by her actions, "Lindsay, it's almost midnight now, nothing is open."

Lindsay put on the breaks and turned around with an embarrassed smile, "Oh right. Well, I'm not the best person for picking out furniture anyway, but I promise get some things tomorrow."

"It's fine Lindsay, really." Cindy said, reaching out and touching Lindsay's arm, "It's just for one night. Let's just get some sleep and we'll worry about the room tomorrow, if we need to."

"I guess you're right." Lindsay said, looking down at Cindy's hand still resting on her arm, "Well, we should get some sleep then."

Cindy nodded, pulled her hand back and looked down the hall, "If you could just point me in the direction the bathroom I'll go do my thing and be out of your way."

Lindsay led Cindy down the hall and stopped in front of the large bathroom, "Here it is."

"Thanks." Cindy said with a smile, finding it hard to move with Lindsay looking into her eyes like that.

"Okay, I'll go lock up." Lindsay said awkwardly, finding it strangely pleasing the way Cindy was looking at her. After another long look at Cindy's beautiful face, Lindsay forced herself to move, walking down the hall and into the living room.

Cindy's smile was wide and her eyes filled with excitement as she enjoyed the view of Lindsay's tight jeans as she walked away.

After washing up, brushing her teeth and spending just a little longer than normal making sure her hair was just right, Cindy stepped out of the bathroom and walked towards her tiny little bedroom.

Even though it wasn't exactly what she might've imagined, it was still better than being in the place she was attacked earlier in the evening.

Lying in bed with her eyes wide open, Cindy heard Lindsay moving about the place, before finally hearing her bedroom door shut and the lights go off, making for a very quiet house.

There's something about being in a strange place that makes every little noise seem like someone is right outside ready to burst through the doors that make for a very unpleasant experience.

Unable to keep her eyes closes for more than a couple minutes, Cindy continued to toss and turn in the uncomfortable bed, thinking back to the two men who attacked her earlier, the noises around her driving her crazy until she heard one loud bang and jumped out of the bed and ran down the hall and barged into Lindsay's bedroom.

Lindsay sat up in the bed, flicked on the light by her night stand and gave Cindy a puzzled look, "Let me guess, you hate the bed?"

"No, it's not that." Cindy said with a laugh, "It's just that I keep hearing these noises and I know it's silly, but I kept thinking someone was outside and…never mind. I must look like such a baby right now."

"It's fine. I understand." Lindsay said, turning to the other half of her bed, "You might as well stay here."

Cindy looked at the big soft bed in front of her and the beautiful brunette curled up in it and could not think of one reason to say no, but she managed to do her best, "I don't know if I should."

"Cindy, it's fine. It's late and…just get into bed." Lindsay said as an order more than a request.

"There's just one thing that I'm not so sure about." Cindy said, thinking about her habit of sleeping in the nude, "Oh never mind, I can go one night without it."

Lindsay couldn't help but be curious as to what Cindy was talking about, "I'll bite, go without what?"

Cindy crawled into bed and smiled at Lindsay, "It's nothing. I'll be fine. You'll laugh anyway." She smiled and turned away from Lindsay, laying her head down on the soft pillow.

"You do realize I'm a detective right?" Lindsay said as she tapped Cindy on the shoulder, "I'm curious by nature, so you might as well tell me now, because I won't be able to sleep until I know what it is you're talking about."

Turning to face the pretty brunette, Cindy smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "I feel bad enough having to come running to your room because I heard noises, I don't think I want to add to that."

"Cindy, you aren't listening." Lindsay said firmly, once again spinning the cute redhead around to face her, "I need to know."

Sitting up in the bed, Cindy put her hands over her face, "I can promise you that you don't want to know. It'll just make things even more weird."

"Now you're just toying with me." Lindsay said, trying to imagine every possible thing Cindy could be talking about.

Knowing she wasn't going to get any sleep until she confessed, Cindy took a deep breath and looked back at Lindsay, "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Call me suitably warned." Lindsay smiled, her eyes wide open as she waited anxiously for Cindy to spill the beans.

"It's just that ever since I was in college I've come to enjoy sleeping in the nude." Cindy explained, then turned and quickly put her head back on her pillow, "There. Now you know and now we can get some sleep."

"I'm guessing by your reaction that you're 100 serious." Lindsay asked rhetorically, "Well I have to admit I never would've come up with that one."

"Can we just get some sleep now?" Cindy said, burying her head even further into the pillow.

"Just one second here, um, if you need to sleep in the nude please do." Lindsay added, suddenly curious as to how Cindy might look in the nude, "It's not going to bother me. I'm a big girl now. I know what the female body looks like. I have one to."

"Very funny." Cindy snapped with a mock grin, "You've had your fun now let's get some sleep."

"I'm serious; if that's how you normally sleep then you should do it here. I can't have this hanging over my head." Lindsay said, dead serious about it as she looked over Cindy's current sleep attire, "I can't stand the thought of you there so uncomfortable in that rather tiny little t-shirt, so please, remove all your clothing and sleep the way that works for you."

"You're just making fun of me." Cindy said, not really sure what to make of Lindsay's words.

"Look, I'm not making fun, well maybe I was a little, but I'm serious." Lindsay smiled, leaning over and whispering in Cindy's ear, "If it helps, I'll sleep in the nude to. Can't get a better offer than that."

"I don't believe you." Cindy said with a laugh, "You're way too high strung for that."

Lindsay shook her head no, mildly annoyed at the suggestion, "Hey, I am not. Just because I'm serious on the job, doesn't mean I can't let loose and be wild at home."

"Sorry, don't see it in ya Lindsay." Cindy shook her head in disbelief, "Now forget I said anything and go to sleep."

"No, now you're starting to tick me off." Lindsay snapped, pushing off the sheets and standing up in her bed, "Here, maybe this will prove it."

Cindy looked up as Lindsay removed her t-shirt, revealing the most perfect pair of breasts she'd ever seen and then just as quickly slipping out of her panties, looking down at Cindy in a look of defiance.

"I stand corrected, "Cindy said as she enjoyed the amazing view, "You are naked. Okay, you made your point. I really need to get some sleep now."

As Cindy turned away from her yet again, Lindsay reached out and spun her around once more, "I did not do this so I could be the only one naked here. This was so you'd feel comfortable. Now, get naked and then we'll sleep."

"No, I don't want to now." Cindy said with a cute little pout, "You've made me feel all self conscious."

Rolling her eyes at Cindy's latest comments, she fell back on her pillow, "What are you talking about?"

"Look at you." Cindy said, taking her time looking over Lindsay's naked body, "I mean, you look amazing. Here you are more than 10 years older than me and you have the body of an 18 year old."

Lindsay heard only one thing in Cindy's sentence, "Okay, you can stop talking about me being old."

"Oh stop it, you know what I mean."

"If you don't start getting those clothes off I'm going to do it for you and I think you know I can." Lindsay said with just a hint of a grin.

"This is so silly." Cindy sighed, shaking her head at Lindsay, "Fine, you win. I'll get naked, but I'm not going to like it."

Lindsay enjoyed Cindy's reluctance and lay back down and got ready for the show, "That's up to you, but I'm ready when you are."

Cindy didn't make quite the same production out of her little strip tease, choosing to slip off her t-shirt under the covers and kicking off her panties the same way, smiling back at Lindsay in the process, "All done. Naked as can be. Now, keep your hands to yourself, because I'm going to sleep."

"Aren't you a little tease?" Lindsay said, half joking and half serious, "Oh and don't flatter yourself, you're not my type."

"That's not what your eyes say. " Cindy said with a big smile as she curled up on her pillow. "Night Lindsay."

"My eyes say no such thing." Lindsay denied quickly, "If anyone was getting checked out, it was me, by you, just a few minutes ago. Goodnight tease."

** San Francisco Morgue.**

Claire Washburn stood over the body of Luke Bowen as she finished up her autopsy, saddened by having to work on someone so young and who had a full life ahead of him.

Jill walked into the room before Claire could stop her, but was quickly ushered out by her good friend, "That is no place for you right now. You know that."

"I know, but I had to see for myself." Jill said softly, her eyes glazed over as she held back the tears for the moment, "I kept hoping they were wrong. I woke up today and I believed he would be alive. I had such a strong feeling that there was a mistake and I'd get to see him and again."  
Claire leaned in and gave Jill a warm hug, "I'm sorry. I really am."

"Thank you." Jill nodded, "He was still so mad at me and I can never change that now. I can't fix it. I can't apologize or make it right. I feel so horrible right now. He didn't deserve this."

"I know." Claire nodded, holding her friend close, "It's a horrible tragedy, but I think he knew how much you cared. Even if he was angry, he knew that."

"I hope so." Jill said, not really believing it, "Anyway, did you find anything? Do you know the cause of the death yet?"

"I'm actually supposed to report to Denise first." Claire replied, "I'm sure she'll fill you in as soon as she gets the information."

"Can't you give me something?" Jill pleaded, "Was it an accident or murder?"

"This is strictly off the record and I hope you know how serious it is for me to be talking to you about this." Claire said, making sure Jill knew what she was risking, "The preliminary report has the cause of the death being severe trauma from the impact of the crash. But, the toxicology report showed traces of chloroform in his blood stream. It's quite possible he was unconscious when his card when off the cliff. That would indicate murder is likely."

Jill stood in disbelief at Claire's findings, "I can't believe this. He had no enemies. Everyone liked him. He was such a nice guy. None of this makes sense. I need to call Lindsay."

**End of Chapter 2**.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3/6**

**Lindsay's Home.**

Lindsay woke up at the sound of her alarm clock, she instinctively hit snooze and was about to lay back down when she turned to see Cindy lying naked beside her. She 'd kicked off all the covers and looked so peaceful lying there. Not only did she look peaceful, she looked very sexy, something Lindsay took a long time enjoying, more than she should've. After enjoying Cindy just a little too long, she felt a strong urge to have a very cold shower. She hopped out of bed, grabbed some clothes from her drawer and made her way to the bathroom.

Cindy woke up moments later; noticed Lindsay was gone and had a small panic attack as she began to fear the worst. She walked down the hall and saw the bathroom door was open, so she grabbed a book from the shelving unit on the wall and pushed her way into the bathroom. Once she heard the shower going, she knew it was Lindsay and let out a sigh of relief. She took one look at the tall slender silhouette of Lindsay in the shower and knew she needed to leave.

As she crawled back into bed, she began to have thoughts about Lindsay that were anything but friendly. She told herself to stop as she imagined kissing the tall brunette, but no matter what she did, Lindsay was on her mind.

Lindsay returned from the shower with her hair soaking wet and a towel wrapped around her, stopping to smile at Cindy lying in bed, "Hey there. It's time to get up."

Cindy rolled over onto her back and made eye contact with Lindsay, "I see you're up and ready to go already."

"I'm getting there." Lindsay nodded, dropping her towel to the floor as she sorted through her clothes, "The shower is ready if you want it. I have a large water heater so you'll have no problem having lots of hot water to use."

"Oh thanks. I think I will." Cindy smiled, finding it hard to keep her eyes up at Lindsay's eye level, when the view below was so distracting.

Now it was Lindsay's turn to enjoy the view as Cindy walked ever so slowly out of the bedroom, turning to smile at Lindsay as she turned into the bathroom, more than a little pleased that Lindsay was checking her out rather blatantly to.

Lindsay began getting dressed when her phone rang. She reached over to the dresser and picked it up, "Boxer here."

"Lindsay, I need you to get here as soon as possible." Jill said, flipping through the police report of the accident, "There's been a murder or at least that's what it seems to be. I can't believe it but someone has murdered Luke."

"What?" Lindsay asked as she walked towards the bathroom, doing a double take at the mention of Luke's name, "Did you say Luke Bowen is dead?"

"Yes, his car went off a cliff late last night." Jill said, still finding it hard to say the words, "It looks like he was knocked out and then pushed off the cliff. I need you to find out why."

Cindy heard Lindsay's voice, assumed she was talking to her and yelled out, "What did you say?"

Jill's eyes lit up as she heard a female voice, "Do you have company?"

"It's just Cindy. She spent the night."

"She what?" Jill asked, sitting up her chair with a big smile on her face.

"It's not like that." Lindsay said, quick to cool Jill's over active imagination, "I'll tell you about when I get there." After pausing briefly, she remembered the reason Jill called in the first place, "I'm really sorry about Luke. I'll be there soon."

Surprised that the bathroom door was wide open, she stepped inside, "Cindy." She said once, then repeated it a bit louder, "Cindy."

Cindy heard the second time her name was called and shut off the water and pulled the shower curtains aside, "Is something wrong?"

Lindsay nodded, "Yes, something is very wrong. Luke Bowen is dead. There's a good chance he was murdered and I think you know who the main suspect is."

"OMG. Did I have something to do with this?" Cindy wondered, knowing she had witnessed something she shouldn't have, "I was there when he had the argument. Maybe they saw me and thought I was working with Luke. Oh god, tell me I didn't get him killed."

Lindsay walked over to the shower and smiled at Cindy, "You didn't. Whatever happened yesterday has nothing to do with you. We'll find out why he was killed, but thanks to you we now have a very good suspect, so just remember that. Okay?"

"I'll try." Cindy smiled, her eyes not wanting to leave Lindsay's, "I guess you have to go then."

"Yes I do. Did you want to me to stay until you're ready?"

"No, I'm fine. I can take a cab to work."

"Oh crap, I forgot about you having no car. I'll wait until you're ready and drive you back to get your car." Lindsay said, finding it very hard to step away from Cindy, "I'll let you get back to your shower."

Lindsay walked out of the bathroom, closed the door behind her and tried to get the image of Cindy's naked body out of her head.

**Denise Kwon's Office.**

"Thank you. I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly." Denise said, holding up the phone as Jill walked into her office.

Jill waited for Denise to finish with the pleasantries and whoever she was talking to and then stepped up to her desk, "I hope that was information about the Luke's death."

Denise got up out of her chair and walked around and stood in front of Jill, "Actually it was. I just talked to Claire and she filled me on what the autopsy showed."

"What's the verdict, accident or murder?" Jill asked knowing the answer already.

"As of now we are treating it like a homicide." Denise replied, sitting down on the front of her desk, crossing her legs as she looked up at Jill, "Claire is faxing me the report and you can have a look for yourself. It appears he was drugged and unconscious when his car went off the cliff so now we need to find who did it and why."

Joining Denise on the desk, Jill sat in a state of disbelief, "I don't know how to feel about this. An accident is one thing, it's horrible and tragic, but there's no ominous feeling about it. But to think he was murdered is so different. It's so cold and makes me feel so angry and confused. I just don't understand why anyone would want to hurt him."

Denise put her hand over Jill's shoulder, unsure of how to comfort her, "The detective's are going to need to talk to you about him. It's part of the process as you know, but there might be something you can tell them that might help."

"I wish there was, but he was just a nice guy." Jill said, truly clueless as to how this could've happened, "He had no enemies. He helped people for a living and enjoyed his work. It just makes no sense."

"Well, someone did want him dead and we'll find out what why." Denise added as she got to her feet, "Lindsay will be investigating this so I'm sure she'll find the answers."

Jill hopped down off the desk as well, nodding her head in agreement, "I hope so."

Standing across from her blonde colleague, Denise fidgeted with her hands, unsure of what she should do or say next, "Well, if you need anything just let me know." She leaned in and gave Jill a short, but warm hug, awkwardly pulling back and smiling after a few seconds.

"Thank you." Jill said, smiling back at her boss, "I'll get back to work and I'll talk to you later."

"I'd like that." Denise smiled, again pausing as she thought of what to say next. As Jill took a step out of her office, she put her hand over her arm to stop her, "Um, would you like to have lunch today? Maybe just talk. Off the clock when I'm not your boss."

Jill took her time trying to figure out if Denise was just trying her best to be nice or if she actually wanted to spend time with her. Without having enough information to go on, she had to wing it, "I guess so. Why don't you call me later on and tell me when you want to meet."

"Great." Denise said, lifting her hand from Jill's arm and stepping back into her office.  
Before Jill had time to think, Tom walked up to her, "Hi Jill. I just heard about Luke. I'm really sorry. He was good guy. I promise you we'll find out who did this and they will pay."

"Thank you Tom. I know you will." Jill said, happy that she had so many people who cared about her and were so willing to help.

Tom walked with Jill down the hall, stopping in front of her office, "I will talk to Lindsay when she gets in and make sure her and Detective Jacobi will make this their number one priority."

"I appreciate that." Jill said warmly just as Hanson North strolled up.

"Can I have a word with you?" Hanson said directly to Jill, barely acknowledging Tom in the process.

Feeling like he was in the way, Tom smiled at Jill as he began to walk away, "Okay then, I'll leave you two alone."

"That was rude." Jill snapped, walking into her office, "I really don't have time for this right now."

Hanson attempted to get closer to Jill, but she wanted no part of that, "I wanted to say I'm sorry about Luke. I regret what happened between us and in hindsight I would've done things differently."

Wanting so much to blame someone else for her mistake, she simply couldn't do it, "It wasn't just you okay. I was there to and I'm more to blame than anyone, but that's the past. You said your condolences, so I think it's best if you left."

"Okay, I get it. I hope they find out who did this. I really do. Goodbye Jill." Hanson said sincerely, pausing at the door, giving Jill one more chance to say something, but as she stood silent, he took the clue and closed the door as he left.

Jill didn't reply, she just walked over to her chair, put her head down on her desk and began to cry, unable to forget what she'd done.

**Lindsay's Car**

It was a slow drive back to Cindy's house, the traffic moving at a snail's pace, something that Lindsay never quite got used to, "So, I think you need to change the locks at your place, maybe install a security system and stop digging into mobster's lives and you should be fine."

"Thanks for the tips." Cindy snarled, choosing to stare out the window rather than risk another lecture.

Lindsay couldn't help but notice Cindy's unhappy face, "I was just kidding. I guess I'm not very good at levity. Anyway, until we put this guy behind bars I don't want you going back to your house."

"What?"

"You can stay with me until this mess is resolved."

Cindy shook her head before Lindsay had finished speaking, "No, I don't think so."

"Why not?"  
"You know why." Cindy said, staring right at Lindsay as if she knew, "It's too weird now."

"I don't have time to argue, I need to go see Jill, so I'll see you at my place when you're done work." Lindsay said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a set of keys, "Here, take these."

"Lindsay." Cindy fumbled with the keys but managed to keep them from falling to the floor, "I'm still not sure this is a good idea, but okay I'll take them, for now."

Lindsay nodded as Cindy walked over to her car, "If you see anyone lurking around you call me. We still don't know who those two men were, so please be careful."

"I will." Cindy smiled, sliding into her car, checking out Lindsay in the rear view mirror as she did.

Once she felt Cindy was safe, Lindsay took off and headed to work.

**SF Police Department.  
**

Lt. Tom Hogan opened the door to Jill's office and waved at her as he stepped inside, "I have some news about Luke Bowen's case."

Jill jumped to her feet and walked over towards Tom, "What is it? Is it something good?"

"In most situations I'd say yes, but something doesn't fit." Tom sighed, closing the door to Jill's office and walking up to her, "Someone has confessed to drugging Luke and sending his car off the cliff."

"Well that's great. Isn't it? Why don't you look happy? What's the downside here?" Jill said. Asking all three questions in rapid succession.

"We don't believe he was at the scene, nor do we believe he has a thing to do with this case." Tom pulled out a file from his jacket and handed it to Jill, "He's got terminal cancer and we believe he's being paid to take the fall."

"But why? What made you think this?"

"A couple reasons." Tom continued, "On the surface he did very well when questioned about the accident, but when pressed further he became nervous and unsure, unable to provide some very basic details about the weather for last night. It was incredibly windy and at the scene of the crime there was also a detour in place because of a mud slide a few days earlier. He knew nothing about and from his account he would've went right past it. He was also unaware of the interior of Luke's car, something that would've stood out had he actually been in the car."

"Why is that?" Jill asked, trying to recall Luke's car, "I've been in his car many times and I don't recall anything different about it."

"Again, this was not something anyone would know about in advance, but the backseat of Luke's car was filled with medical books, luggage, computers and was pretty much filled to the brink." Tom explained as he paced around the office, "Now what makes this relevant is the man who confessed to this says he sat in the back seat waiting for Luke to get in his car and then used the chloroform on him. Obviously it would be impossible to hide in the back seat when it was overflowing with things."

Jill went from happy to disappointed in a few quick minutes, "Do you know who hired him?"

Tom couldn't hide his own disappointment, "We are looking into it, but so far no leads. I'm sorry, I knew you'd want to know about this."

"Thanks Tom." Jill smiled and walked Tom to the door where she was met by Lindsay.

Tom stepped to the side to allow the two women to hug, looking at Lindsay as he walked away, "We need to talk once you're finished here."

"I'll be there." Lindsay said, then pushed the door to Jill's office shut and looked her friend in the eye, "I'm really so sorry about Luke. I will find out who did this. I promise."

"I know you will." Jill said with a smile.

Lindsay pulled back from Jill, knowing it was time to let go, "I have some information about this case that I need to pass on to Tom and Denise, but you get if first."

"I could use some good news if you have some. I'm not sure if you've heard, but someone has already confessed, but it seems he was being paid to confess and didn't know many important details about the case, so it looks like a dead end."

"Well, let me tell you what I know." Lindsay said, slipping off her jacket and tossing it on the back of the chair, "Last night I got a call from Cindy. There were two men outside her place, they tried to grab her but I got there in time. After asking her who might've wanted to hurt her she told me a rather troubling story."

"Story?" Jill questioned, "Is there something about Cindy we don't know about?"

After filling Jill in on Cindy's investigation, Lindsay sat back down, "So now you know who we think is responsible for Luke's death."

Jill hadn't thought about Andrei Shemkenov in years, but knew he was more than capable of murder, "I don't what to say. I can't believe Luke would ever get mixed up with a man like that, but if his mother was sick and needed medical treatments, I can see why he would do it. I just don't get why they'd kill him. That doesn't make much sense."

"I know." Lindsay nodded, "I agree completely, but he is our only suspect right now and we need to find out more about Luke's involvement, what exactly he was doing with you and that means going to the source."

"Lindsay, I don't want you getting killed because of him to."

"I'm not going to be killed." Lindsay said, smiling back at her friend, continuing to reassure her, "He's not going to kill a cop. He's going to be feeling the heat for a while now, so my guess is he's going to be more than cooperative.

"Okay, I feel a bit better knowing we have a suspect to work with." Jill said softly, walking up and standing directly in front of Lindsay, "So let's change the subject a bit. Tell me what it was like to spend the night with Cindy?"

Lindsay knew it was coming but we never ready for it, "Jill, it wasn't that kind of night and you know it."

"Actually I don't know it." Jill said honestly, "What I do know is that you have been spending a lot of time with Cindy lately and who knows how fast things have progressed."

"Okay, you can stop now." Lindsay said, grabbing her coat and walking towards the door.

Claire walked in and quickly kept Lindsay from leaving, "Let me guess, this has something to do with Cindy spending the night?"

Lindsay groaned and fell back to her chair, "Oh not you to."

Walking over to Jill, Claire smiled at her friend, "Fill me in, what did you find out?

"I was just getting to that actually." Jill said, turning her attention to Lindsay, "So, tell us all the details."

"There are none." Lindsay said as the two women stared her down.

"Then tell us the non details." Claire asked with a smile, "Something must've happened or you wouldn't be so defensive."

"Nothing like that happened and I'm not defensive, but I know you'll make more out of it than there was."

Claire smiled at Lindsay, "We'll be the judge of that."

"Fine, let me give you the short version." Lindsay said, putting her coat over her shoulder as she leaned against the door, "Cindy ended up in my bed and we both slept together naked. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do." Lindsay smiled as her two friends stood in front of her with their mouths wide open.

Jill watched Lindsay leave and turned to Claire, "What do you make of that?"

"Even if nothing happened last night, it's just a matter of time for those two." Claire replied as the two women smiled at the possibility that Lindsay was finally going to be happy again.

End of Chapter 3.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.**

**Andrei Shemkenov's Mansion**.

After getting clearance from inside, Lindsay and her partner, Detective Jacobi drove up to the Shemkenov's multi story mansion. Once there, two guards guided them into the house and out back to where Andrei was sitting out by the pool.

Lindsay noticed a few more gray hairs on the mobster, but other than that he looked pretty much the same as he did 5-6 years ago. He kept himself in shape and the barrel-chested man still had a big smile plastered on his face, something that never seemed to disappear, no matter what the situations.

Looking up from his paper, Andrei smiled at Lindsay, "What do I owe the pleasure of your beautiful company?"

"We are investigating a murder." Lindsay said, handing Andrei a photo of Luke, "Do you know this man?"

"Indeed I do." Andrei replied swiftly, his Russian accent all but gone, aside from a few words and phrases, "He's a consultant you might say."

Surprised at Andrei's admission, Lindsay looked at Jacobi for assistance while she changed her whole line of questioning.

"How long has Luke Bowen worked for you?" Jacobi asked, his pen ready to jot down everything he heard.

"I'd have to check my records for the exact date he was hired, but I'd say about 3 ½ years. I have a very large staff and I like to provide my employees with the best possible medical attention and Luke was a very good doctor."

Lindsay shook her head as she listened to Andrei's version of things, "What did Luke do to get on your bad side Andrei? Did he refuse to work things out with Jill?"

"I see you still have a very active imagination Miss Boxer. It is Miss correct?" Andrei said with a questioning look, getting up and standing right in front of Lindsay, "Your husband did dismiss you, oh I mean, divorce you, if I'm not mistaken?"

Jacobi watched as Lindsay grit her teeth, wondering if she was going to deck him or ignore him.

"Please answer the question." Lindsay said calmly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Mr. Bowen's personal life is none of my business."

Lindsay looked up at the tall hulking former boxer, "We have an eye witness that says otherwise."

For the first time since they arrived Andrei's trademark smile left his face, replaced by a look of surprise and disbelief, "That's not possible, because it isn't true. Now, if you're done harassing me, I have business to attend to."

Jacobi stepped in front of the large Russian as he began walking back inside, "We are not finished, so sit down or we can take this downtown, it's up to you."

"I grow tired of your mindless questions. It is not my problem if you do not like the answers I provide. Either ask me something else or get the hell out of my home. My patience is growing thin."

"Here's what I think happened." Lindsay said, once again getting up in Andrei's face, "I think Luke had finally had enough of your crap. I think he grew to care about Jill and that's why he couldn't go back. You didn't like that. You don't like it when people don't do what you say. In spite of having him in a perfect position to do your dirty work, his insubordination was a much bigger problem for you. So you had him killed."

"That is a very fun little story Miss Boxer, but it is not remotely true. I can say without a doubt that I had nothing to do with Mr. Bowen's death, so do what you have to do, but my suggestion and it's only a suggestion so please don't be offended, but I would look into Mr. Bowen's financial records. I'm thinking the answer to your questions lie there." Andrei took a great deal of satisfaction at shutting up the two detectives', "Now, if you wish to ask any further questions you can contact my lawyer. Now get out."

Lindsay and Jacobi chose to leave, knowing they could always come back if needed. As they got into their car Lindsay got a call. . "Boxer here."

"Hi Lindsay, we have a match on that license plate, sorry for the delay." A young man said as he sat in front of a large computer, "It's registered to Kevin Snidely, 23 years old, last known address is Room 49, Clift Hotel."

"Thank you." Lindsay replied and quickly turned off her cell as they headed to the hospital.

** San Francisco Register**.

Cindy Thomas searched through the countless folders on her desk, looking for any story that might've caused problems for her or the paper. She put aside only 3 folders from a huge stack and began looking at each one carefully.

As a reporter for the paper's Community Watch section, she often did stories exposing different types of small time criminal activities, from telemarketing scams, to people who swindle senior citizens out of their money to corporate polluting, which entailed confronting unsavory types in many of those situations.

One such case was her report on toxic waste being dumped into the harbor, a story that generated a great deal of city wide attention, but ended up being scrapped because of lack of evidence and severe pressure on the mayor's office by the company in question.

Matton Industrial Equipment and Disposal was a small subsidiary of a much larger global conglomerate Trifera Solutions, a company owned by a well known billionaire by the name of Hubert Stafford.

Looking through the folder Cindy focused on two pieces of paper with red x's pasted to them. It was then that she recalled the reason for the x's. Before reading another page, she flipped open her cell phone and called Lindsay.

For whatever reason Lindsay wasn't picking up, so she left her a message on her voicemail, "Lindsay, you need to come down to the paper. I've been looking into some of my old cases and have come across some people and companies I have annoyed in the past, some who have actually threatened me. Not with physical harm, but with lawsuits mostly. Anyway, call me, I have much more to tell you."

**San Francisco General Hospital.**

Lindsay and Jacobi each went their separate ways, each with a list of potential people to talk to. Lindsay began at the main desk, while Jacobi started with administration.

A pretty young woman sat at the main desk, answering phone call after phone call, dealing with countless inquiries and never once losing her wholesome smile.

"Hello there. I'm Detective Boxer, I'm investigating the death of Luke Bowen, I'm wondering if you knew him"

"Hi I'm Melissa." The cute young blonde replied, "I knew him casually, but I also knew about him."  
Lindsay was intrigued already, "Could you clarify what you mean by that?"

"I'm not a gossip, I'm really not, but everyone knew about Luke's spending habits." Melissa said, leaning in close to Lindsay and changing her tone to a whisper, "He had an a penthouse suite downtown where he held parties almost every night, he had three or four different cars, I mean the really, really expensive kind, like the Mazerati's, Lamborghini's, Porsche's and many others that he never drove, but he lent them out to whoever asked."

"Okay, how he could afford such things? He's not making that kind of money yet."

"I know, but he always had money and he was always giving it away, helping people, letting them enjoy the fancy things in life, things they might never get a chance to any other way."

"Were you ever at this apartment?"

Melissa smiled and shook her head, "No, my boyfriend didn't want me to go. He didn't like Luke and I didn't think it was worth ruining my relationship over."

Lindsay chuckled at the boyfriend comment, wondering for a moment why Tom was never jealous like that, "So aside from your boyfriend, do you know of anyone else who may not have liked Luke?"

"A few people got carried away at his apartment and he kicked them out, but I don't think they held grudges, they knew they were wrong. Most were quite embarrassed by how they acted."

"Would you happen to know if there was anyone here who was particularly close to Luke?"

"He hung out with a couple of the senior doctors on staff a lot." Melissa added, more than happy to name names, "Dr. Kinley, who is a radiologist, Dr. Dryden, who's an orthopedic surgeon and Dr. Rahji, who's the Chief of Staff."

After writing down the names and finding out where each of the doctor's worked, Lindsay thanked the pretty receptionist and made her way to the elevator. As she stepped inside, she pushed number 3 on the panel and snuck out her cell phone to check her messages.

She smiled the second she saw Cindy's name pop up. She listened to her message and instantly wanted to rush out and be with her and find out what she had learned, but her job had to come first.

Her first stop was room 305, Dr Kinley's office. Once again she had to go through a pretty receptionist just to get a chance at speaking to the doctor, but luckily for her she was allowed in right away.

Dr. Edward Kinley greeted Lindsay as she stepped inside his spacious office, "Hello detective. Please come in."

Lindsay took a seat in front of the doctor's large oak desk and began, "As you may have heard I'm investigating the death Luke Bowen and I hear you were a close friend of his. Can you tell me how he was able to afford to live such a lavish lifestyle on his salary?"

"That I don't know, but he was a very generous man. He insisted on treating others to a good time and he spared no expense in the process."

"What else did you do with Luke?"

Dr. Kinley smiled as he thought about his adventures with Luke, "He liked to gamble, bet on the horses, sports or go to the tables and play poker, blackjack, craps, you name it, he loved to gamble. I don't know if he was addicted, but I know he would bet on anything."

"Didn't it seem odd to you that he had so much money? I can't imagine you not asking where it was coming from." Lindsay pushed, wondering why people weren't as curious about things as she was.

"I did, but he was very sensitive about that. I just never pushed. I assumed his family was wealthy or he won the lottery, I really didn't give it much thought."

Lindsay smiled politely, yet was more than a little disappointed in the lack of information she was getting, "Thank you for your help. Just one last thing, do you know of anyone that might've wanted Luke dead?"

"Not really, he spent most of his time making life good for other people, he was well liked by virtually everyone."

"Okay, well if you think of anything else give me a call." Lindsay said, handing him her business card.

After talking to the other two doctors and receiving close to the exact same information, she tried to find Jacobi. Luckily he was exiting the elevator as she was walking into it and the two stopped to compare notes.

"Did you learn anything that might help with the case?"

"Possibly." Jacobi said as he flipped through his notes, "One of the nurses mentioned being at a casino last night with Luke and many others and while they were there Luke got into an altercation with a couple men. From what I've been able to piece together it seems he came to the aid of a man being beaten in the men's washroom, he broke up the fight and treated the man as best he could, but when the man regained consciousness, he began yelling at Luke that he'd just cost him his life."

"That sounds promising, do we have any descriptions of these men?"

"Not great ones, but I believe the casino security cameras will take care of that part for us. They argued and fought inside the washroom and outside, so something should be on tape." Moving out into the parking lot, Jacobi stopped as he waited for some cars to pass, "The other interesting bit of information I found out was that Luke was scamming money from most every bank, loan office, loan sharks, racking up huge credit card debts with every single card you can imagine, all the while, not caring one bit about the trouble it was going to bring him."

"Why's that?" Lindsay asked, waiting for the final car to go by so she could cross the street.  
Jacobi paused, almost for affect, before responding, "It appears that Mr. Bowen had the same genetic and fatal disease his mother had, Huntington's disease."

Lindsay stopped in front of their car, "That explains why he was trying to live life large, but we still need to find what that altercation was about.'

"I'm going to have a look at the security cameras right now." Jacobi replied as he slipped into the car.

"Okay, I have a couple things I need to care of, but I'll meet you back at the station in a couple hours."

As soon as Jacobi had pulled away, Lindsay pulled out her cell and called Cindy.

Cindy picked up, happy to see it was Lindsay calling, "Hey there, I'm glad you called back. I just got a very nasty email from Matton Industrial. That's not even the strange part. The strange part is they are replying to something I sent them, but I haven't sent them a thing since I stopped working this story years ago."

"Someone else had access to your computer and sent some email to this company? Why?"

"I don't know why, but this email is kind of scary." Cindy said, pulling up the email on your screen, "They don't come right out and threaten me with violence, but they make it clear that I'm going to pay for what they call harassing them."

Lindsay barely heard a word Cindy said, her mind still cluttered with thoughts about the night before, "Listen, I need a bit of a favor. Can you come pick me up at the general hospital? We can get lunch; I think we need to talk."

Shaking her head at Lindsay stating the obvious, "I know, someone has been using my computer, I need to know who."

"Yes, that's one thing we can talk about, but I think we need to talk about our living arrangements and other such things."

"Okay, are these good things or bad things?" Cindy asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"I think it's good, but that's why I need to talk to you, so I'll see you in a little while then." Lindsay said, quickly hanging up before Cindy could push her for more details, knowing full well that she'd chicken out if given the chance.

While she waited for Cindy to arrive, Lindsay began to get nervous about her impending talk and called Jill for some support.

"Hi there." Jill said, happy to hear from her best friend, "How's the investigation coming?"

"It's moving along, but it's taken a bit of a turn and we're still figuring out what it all means." Lindsay replied, not meaning to sound as cryptic as she did, "I'm not sure you knew Luke as well as you thought."

Jill instantly sat up in her chair, puzzled and a little annoyed at Lindsay's comment, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, it's just that I think he was hiding some pretty important things from you." Lindsay knew she should stop and talk about this in person, but the cop inside her pushed on, "For example, have you ever been to his apartment downtown, you know the penthouse suite of that fancy building, what's it called again, oh right, Orion Plaza."

Jill pulled the phone from her ear, wondering if she'd heard right, "He doesn't have an apartment there. He couldn't afford that."

"Well he did have a place there. Not just a place, the place. He has the whole top floor rented out." Lindsay said, sound more like a cop interrogating a suspect than a friend. She shook her head and remembered who she was talking to, "I'm sorry. I hate to be the one to tell you all this, but you weren't the only one keeping a secret. Maybe this is different than yours, but it appears that Luke was living every day like it could be his last."

"That makes no sense." Jill said, searching for an explanation to everything she was hearing, "He was young and loved his job. There must be a mistake, that place would cost more to rent than he makes in 3 months."

"Another secret he must've kept from you was his health wasn't 100." Lindsay added, knowing Jill was going to find out sooner or later, "He had the same fatal disease that his mother died from, Huntington's disease and I'm not sure when he found out, but it seems once he did, he made sure he was going to enjoy what time he had left."

"How is this possible?"

"We're still piecing it together, but it looks like he's maxed out every credit card that are legitimate and many other than aren't. He's taken out very large loans, with the help of his friends, some more established doctor's, again using legitimate companies as well taking money from any loan shark he could find. We're still trying to put together a final picture of all this, but I'd venture to guess he's racked up over 25 million dollars in loans and credit card debt."

"I can't believe this. How could I not know?" Jill wondered as she paced back and forth in front of her desk.

"Because you trusted him." Lindsay answered quickly, "You had no reason to look for problems. He was very good at keeping this away from you. I'm just not sure why, I would've thought he'd want you included, but maybe he didn't want you to know he was dying."

Jill finally came to a stop, "So you don't think Shemkenov is responsible for his death now?"

"I haven't ruled him out completely, but there was an altercation between Luke and a couple men last night and we are looking into that right now. As soon we find out more I'll let you know."

"Okay, I feel so strange right now." Jill said, walking aimlessly around her office, "I'm not sure if I should be mad or hurt or what. He lied by omission I guess, but after what I did I can't really cast stones."

"How about if we change the topic for a bit?" Lindsay asked softly, hoping she wasn't being selfish, "I actually need to talk to you about Cindy. I think I made a mistake just now."

Hearing Lindsay talk about Cindy quickly changed Jill's mood, "Mistake? What did you do?"

"I told her I wanted to talk."

"How is that a mistake?" Jill asked with a slight grin.

Lindsay stared at the phone, trying to shoot a look of disbelief at Jill for not knowing exactly what she was thinking, "Because, I said I wanted to talk about our living arrangements and other things. I just started thinking about what happened to Cindy last night and then Luke being killed and I don't want something to happen to Cindy or me and not get the chance to tell her how I feel."

"Lindsay, that's not bad. That's good."

"Then why I do feel so nervous?" Lindsay questioned, not really wanting to admit her feelings for Cindy were causing her nerves.

"Well, it's probably because you care about her and there's maybe a hint of fear that she doesn't feel the same, but let me just say that from everything I've seen, she does feel the same about you. She always has."

"Are you sure? Sometimes I see it in her eyes and yet I'm not sure I'm ready for this. Look what happened with Tom? Maybe I'm not meant to be in a long term relationship." Lindsay sighed, her negative thinking beginning to get the better of her, "What if I end up messing this up to? I don't want to hurt her."

"I think you're just looking for problems now. Just count to ten Lindsay. Breathe in, relax and think of all the reasons you like Cindy. Remember why you want to talk to her." Jill said, trying to get Lindsay to focus on the positives, "What exactly are you going to say to her?"

"I honestly don't know right now." Lindsay shrugged, feeling like she was completely lost, "Maybe I'm rushing things here, you know, trying too hard. I was going to ask her to move in. How can I do that? We aren't really dating or anything. I just feel so strongly about her. I want to kiss her so much. Oh god, what if she just wants to be friends? See, this is why people date, so they find out if they want to be with someone long term. We skipped that and now I'm really not sure what to do."

"Lindsay, you need to breathe again." Jill reiterated, breathing in and out right along with Lindsay, after a couple seconds she continued, "Okay, maybe you haven't dated in a traditional sense of the word, but you've spent nearly every night together for the last month. You've gone out to dinner with her, you've gone to movies with her, you've even gone dancing with her and you hate dancing. So even if they weren't called dates, that's what they were. You got to know each other. I'm not a betting woman, but if I had to bet my last paycheck on something, it would be that Cindy wants you as much as you want her."

"Why you are more confident about this I am?" Lindsay asked with a laugh.

"Because I can be objective." Jill smiled, picking up a picture from her desk of Lindsay, Claire and her at a charity baseball game, "Both Claire and I have seen how much you've changed since Cindy came into your life. I don't think we knew it would lead to this in the beginning, but over the last month, we both knew you two were meant for each other. I truly hope you see that to."

"Not to dispute your powers of prediction, but weren't you two pushing me on Tom for the last few months as well?" Lindsay asked, not wanting to pass up a chance to mock her good friend's powers of perception.

Jill laughed out loud, sitting back down in her chair with a big smile covering her pretty face, "Guilty as charged, but now that we've seen you with Cindy, we realize we were wrong about Tom being the one. Don't get me wrong, I like Tom and think he's a wonderful man, but he didn't make you feel like Cindy does. Cindy makes you happy and that's just the way it is."

Lindsay watched as Cindy pulled up in her car, "I think you're right and here is Cindy driving up as we speak. Thanks Jill, I really needed this. Anyway, Jacobi is looking into another lead and hopefully we'll have something concrete to go on this case very soon."

"I have every confidence that you'll find his killer. Now go talk to Cindy. I'll talk to you later."

**End of Chapter 4.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

**Westwood Casino**

Detective Jacobi sat in a comfortable chair in a large room filled with TV's showing most every room in the large casino, but he concentrated on the one in front of him. The one from last night.

After watching the tape of the altercation and getting two strong visual identifications of the men involved, he sent the tape to the station and began looking at the tapes from the parking lot.

Sure enough the same two men appeared just as Luke left the casino. One grabbed him from behind, the other applied the chloroform. They shoved him into the back seat of their car. One man got into Luke's car and followed the other into the street. More than enough evidence to get an arrest warrant.

**Outside SF General Hospital**.

Lindsay climbed into the passenger seat and as Cindy began to drive off, put her hand over her arm, "Stop."

Cindy slammed on the breaks and looked at Lindsay, "What is it?"

"I want to talk to you and I don't want you to be distracted by driving." Lindsay said, making sure Cindy did as she was asked.

"Okay, consider us parked." Cindy grinned as she parked the car and turned the engine off, "So what did you want to talk about?"

"First I want to ask you if you know anyone named Kevin Snidely?" Lindsay asked, getting the police work out of the way first.

"Yes, he works at the paper. He's a nice guy. We joke around all the time. Why?

Lindsay was hoping for a different answer, "That license plate from last night belongs to him."

"What? " Cindy asked, curling her nose up as if to laugh, "It can't be. If anything someone stole his car. Seriously, he's a big harmless teddy bear. I've known him for almost two years now."

"Does he have any connection to this email you received? Did he work on that story at all?"

"No, but now that I think of it his friend did. Glenn Stevenson. I worked the Matton Industrial story with him for almost a month. All went well, but when I got the job at the crime desk, he was very annoyed, because he thought he would be getting it. In fact he left a couple weeks later."

"Did he have a temper? Did he ever make any threats or anything when you got this job and he didn't?"

"No, he didn't talk to me at all. I got the silent treatment until he left. I can't imagine him doing anything like this."

"People do strange things sometimes. I'm going to need to talk to him and Kevin Snidely." Lindsay said, more to herself than to Cindy. As she put away her pen and notepad, she turned to Cindy and smiled, "Anyway, I'll take care of that later, but now I think it's time we had that talk."

"Good, I'm curious as to what you want to talk about." Cindy said, happy to be looking into Lindsay's again.

"Well, we've been spending a lot of time together over the last few months really and I have never enjoyed myself more." Lindsay said stuttering more than once as she tried to get the words out, "I've never been happier and I owe it all to you."

"You've done the same for me." Cindy said, quick to return the compliment, "I was so focused on my job, I forgot what it was like to have fun again, so I think we helped each other equally."

"Yes we did, but lately I've been having these other thoughts and this is where I get nervous." Lindsay looked for somewhere to move but she was stuck in the seat and had to find a way to continue, "I'm not sure how to say this, but I like you, but not just as a friend. I mean, I think you are beautiful and funny and kind and caring and sweet and an amazing person, but I've also become very attracted to you as a woman. I can't stop thinking about you and I've wanted to kiss you for what seems like forever now. I just needed to say this. You don't have to say anything. I wanted you to know how I felt. Okay, you can drive now."

"I'm not going anywhere. " Cindy said, almost in a trance as she listened to Lindsay open her heart up to her. Still not sure if what she'd heard was real, but when she looked into Lindsay's eyes she knew it was, "I never really knew what to make of our relationship. I loved having you as a friend and I was more than content with that, but at the same I always dreamed of more. I can say this; I've wanted to kiss since the first time we met. That's when I knew you were something special. I also knew your ex husband was back in the picture and I wasn't quite sure what that meant for you or for us, but I still wanted to be part of your life and if that meant being your friend, then that was fine."

Lindsay cringed at the mention of her ex's name, "I think the Tom situation was more confusing for others, especially Jill and Claire, but I wasn't really confused about it. Even though we were married and spent so many years together, I knew the divorce was the best thing for both of us. At the time I didn't know why I felt that way, but when I met you it all became clear."

"Really?" Cindy asked with a wide eyed smiled."

"Yes, really." Lindsay replied with an even bigger smile, "I admit I wasn't quite sure about you to begin with, but the more I learned the more I liked. You showed me what a great person you are and what a great friend you can be, not just to me, but to Jill and Claire as well. I think when I started noticing how beautiful you are, that's when I knew things were changing."

Cindy blushed just a little. "I'm not beautiful, but I'm glad you think so."

"You are, but modesty is nice." Lindsay said, putting her hand over Cindy's, squeezing it softly as she looked into her adorable eyes, "And my attraction to you is not just physical, but that being said you are a very sexy woman and I've been thinking about so many things I'd like to do to you and with you and not many are legal out in public this."

"I like it when you talk like that." Cindy grinned, looking deep into Lindsay's eyes, "I'm pretty sure kissing isn't against the law, so why don't you kiss me so I know this isn't a dream."

Lindsay had thought about this moment for weeks, imagining what it would be like to kiss Cindy's soft full lips and as she finally made contact with them, it was everything she imagined, and more.

Cindy kissed her back hard and deep, wrapping her arms around Lindsay, caressing her, holding her and moving her body against her, wanting to be closer, wanting to be all over her and she was.

Slipping into the seat with Lindsay, Cindy straddled her lap and continued to kiss Lindsay hard and deep, her tongue exploring Lindsay's mouth, her hands sliding up and over Lindsay's breasts, as Lindsay moaned and pulled Cindy's hands right on her perky breasts.

They continued to kiss passionately, unaware of people walking back and forth through the cross walk, until a shadow covered the interior of the car. Both girls looked up and Cindy held back a very big grin, but Lindsay's face turned white as she saw Tom and Heather looking back at them.

A total freeze occurred as Lindsay sat in her seat hoping they would just move along. But, no such luck, as Tom tapped on Cindy's window, "Hey there. I didn't expect to see you here."

Lindsay looked at Cindy, who was smiling just a little a too much, and the back at Tom, "I was just doing some work on a case. So what brings you down here? I hope all is well with you two?"

"Oh yes, everything's fine." Tom said, hugging his wife, "We're just here visiting Heather's best friend. She just had a baby."

"That's great. Everyone loves a baby. Congratulate the happy couple for me." Lindsay said, stepping out of the car and walking around to where Tom and Heather were standing.

Tom looked at Lindsay and then at Cindy and then back at Lindsay again, "So, you and Cindy seem pretty close now."

"Yes Tom, we are." Lindsay said boldly, feeling more comfortable now that she had some fresh air, "In fact, since you're here, I might as well tell you that Cindy and are seeing each other now. Anyway, we were in the middle of something, so I hope you have wonderful visit and I'll see you back at the station later on."

"Okay then, I'll see you later." Tom nodded and then leaned in and waved at Cindy, "It's nice seeing you again.

"Nice seeing you again Tom." Cindy smiled and waved back at him.

Lindsay watched as Tom and Heather entered the hospital, rolled her eyes and leaned in and put her arm on the window, "Well that was fun. I guess it's official then, we're a couple. Are you okay with that?"

Cindy smiled, took Lindsay's hands and squeezed them both, "I was wondering the same thing about you, but yes, I couldn't be happier about it."

"I wanted to ask you one more thing, but the mood is kind of gone, but would you like to move in with me?" Lindsay asked, nervously fidgeting with her fingers, "If this is too much just tell me, because I'm not really good at this stuff. I just really want to be with you."

"I'd love to." Cindy said, leaning forward and kissing Lindsay softly on the lips, "I'm tired of my old place anyway. Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"I'm positive." Lindsay replied with a nod and a kiss, "I need to get back to the station and follow up on these leads, but I'll call you when I'm finished and we can go back to my place and I can give you a proper welcoming."

"I like the sounds of that." Cindy smiled, watching ever so closely as Lindsay walked back around and slipped in beside her, "I wish we stay here all day." Cindy added, gazing into Lindsay's hypnotic eyes.

"I'd like that to, but I really want to solve these cases and then we can relax and enjoy our night together." Lindsay explained as she too got lost in Cindy's eyes.

They began kissing soon after, totally lost in the moment, neither seeing Tom walk past, stopping to smile at the passionate kiss he was witnessing. After another interruption by some curious pedestrians, they pried themselves apart and Cindy finally got the car moving and drove Lindsay back to the station.

**SF Police Department**.

Detective Jacobi stood outside Tom's office, waiting for his chance to talk to him, just then his cell phone began to ring, "Hello?"

"Detective Jacobi this is FBI agent Jonathan Hudson." A tall, youthful looking African American man said as he watched his CSI's comb the crime scene for information, "I was told to contact you about two suspects wanted in a murder investigation you are conducting. They are both dead."

"What?" Jacobi asked, more than a little shocked by the news, "How, when?"

"The how is simple, a single gunshot wound to the middle of the head for both men. As for the when, I'd guess less than an hour ago." Hudson said, flipping though his notepad, "We've been investigating Andrei Shemkenov for over a year now and these two men were part of his organization. We need everything you have on these two men as well as all the information regarding this murder investigation."

"I'll have to talk to my superior about this first, I was supposed to be interrogating them now, so I'd like to know why they weren't picked up hours ago."

"Well, that would be our responsibility." Hudson said with a hint of guilt, "Once we saw your officers come to the door, we pulled them aside to inform them of our case and I regret to say this, but the suspects were killed while we briefed your men."

"This is unacceptable." Jacobi yelled, unable to control his annoyance, "Those two men were responsible for the murder of a young man who had ties to this department. You let them get killed and have nothing to show for it? I don't think that's going to earn you much cooperation around here."

"As unfortunate as this situation is, this is an FBI matter. Shemkenov is wanted in numerous states on numbers charges. We've been building a case against him for the past year and this may be the final nail in his coffin."

"At what expense?" Jacobi asked, then closed his cell phone.

After a couple minutes of waiting, Tom came out of his office, shook the hand of the mayor and was about to walk back in when Jacobi rushed up to him, "Lieutenant, there's been a new development in the Bowen murder case."

Tom turned and continued to walk back into his office, "I'm aware of that Jacobi."

Puzzled by Tom's response, Jacobi followed him inside, "Just when did you become aware?"

Tom sat down at his desk and looked up at the agitated face of Jacobi, "I realize this is not how you wanted the case to end. We all wanted those two men to face the charges and get the sentence they deserved, but that's not going to happen now. Just be happy you did your job, you found the two men responsible for Luke's death and the case is now closed. It's an FBI matter now."

"If Shemkenov ordered this killing, then it's still our case and we still need to bring him in for the Luke's murder."

"It's out of my hands now." Tom said, tossing his hands in the air, "FBI has jurisdiction, so take the next case on the board and refocus your energies on that."

Jacobi wanted to be angry at Tom, but he knew this is how things worked, so he smiled politely and walked back to his desk.

Lindsay arrived to see Jacobi staring up at the crime board, "What are you doing? Those are new cases, we haven't solved this one. At least not completely."

"You've missed a lot since you were gone." Jacobi said, still angry about losing the case, "What were you doing anyway?"

Taken back by Jacobi's angry tone, Lindsay chose her response carefully, "What's going on here? I haven't seen you this upset since we got pulled off that child molestation case by the FBI."

Jacobi's eyes lit up and he glared at Lindsay, "Well, welcome as Arnold used to say, "they're back".

"Why?"

Jacobi filled Lindsay in on everything he'd learned and soon there were two very unhappy detectives, "Well this becoming a very annoying habit of theirs. We were positive they were responsible for Luke's death right?"

"Yes, there was more than enough evidence to get a conviction."

"I need to tell Jill; at least they won't be hurting anyone else now." Lindsay said, patting Jacobi on the shoulder as she strolled down the hall to Jill's office.

After knocking on Jill's door, she was happy to see the door open and Jill welcome her inside, "How did your talk go?"

"Oh that." Lindsay replied, taking a moment to catch on, "It went great. I was nervous, but you were right, she feels the same way and we're going to give this is at try."

Jill's face lit up and she practically lunged at Lindsay as she hugged her, "I'm so happy for you. If anyone deserves to be happy it's you."

"I think we all deserve that." Lindsay said, emphasizing the all part for Jill's benefit. After stepping back from the hug, she spent the next few minutes filling Jill in on the new developments.

"Well, as much as I would've loved to see them prosecuted for this, I can't say I hate this result" Jill said, happy that Luke's killers could hurt nobody else.  
Lindsay nodded, "I know, but Shemkenov is still free and I don't like that. I don't like that we can't bring him in for his part in this.

"Do you know anything about the case the FBI has against him?" Jill wondered.

"No, but I could ask around."

Jill sat back down at her desk, "I'd like to know that they have enough to put him away."

**"**If they don't, we will." Lindsay said firmly, reassuring Jill as best she could.

"Are you heading home now? Is Cindy going to be there?

Lindsay smiled, "Not just yet, I have two more people I need to talk to, but then I will be and yes Cindy is going to be there and we have a very special night planned."

"Do tell."

"I think you can use your imagination on that one." Lindsay said with a coy grin, "I'll see you tomorrow okay."

"Okay then, have fun." Jill said with a smile as she watched Lindsay walk out of her office.

**End of Chapter 5**.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6/6. **

**Kevin Snidely's apartment**.

Kevin Snidely opened the door to see Lindsay and Jacobi standing in front of him holding their badges up at him, "What can I do for you officers?"

Jacobi gave Kevin one last look at his badge before sliding it into his jacket pocket, glaring at the tall heavy set man, "We need to talk to you about Glenn Stevenson in connection with an attempted kidnapping of Cindy Thomas.

"No way." Kevin yelled, terrified when hearing the word kidnapping, "There was no kidnapping at all. Cindy's a friend of mind. This was just a practical joke."

"Maybe that's what Glenn told you, but there's more going on here than you seem to grasp. Can we come in please?" Jacobi asked, almost pushing his way inside.

"I guess." Kevin mumbled as the two detectives waltzed inside, "I swear I wouldn't hurt Cindy."

"Has Glenn talked to you about being angry with Cindy about not getting the crime desk job?" Jacobi asked as he walked around the small apartment.

"Sure he was pissed off, but who wouldn't be. " Kevin explained, watching as the two detectives began snooping around, "At the time he said some things, but that was just blowing off smoke."

Lindsay had heard enough and jumped into the conversation,"Did you know that he broke into Cindy's computer and send an email to a powerful company making threats in Cindy's name?"

"He said it was just a joke."

"A joke?" Lindsay gasped, "You think this is a joke?"

"At first I did. Did we scare Cindy? Is she mad or something?" Kevin asked, stunned and confused that Cindy might've been hurt by his actions, "Glenn kind of wanted to scare her off the job or if possible, have Matton Industries complain to her editor and get fired that way."

"This unbelievable and you still think this is a joke? Does it seem funny to you now?"

"No."

Lindsay shook her head at Kevin and looked at Jacobi for some help, "What are we going to do with him?"

Jacobi began to answer, making sure Kevin hear every word, "Well, if he gives us enough information on Glenn, we might be persuaded to drop the attempted kidnapping charge. However, it will be hard to drop the assault charge, since Cindy was shaken up pretty bad on that, wasn't she? Plus, the break and enter charge is not going away. We might have enough on Glenn that we don't need Kevin's help. That might mean no plea bargain agreement."

"Wait a second here." Kevin pleaded, suddenly fearing the worst, "I can't go to jail. It was all Glenn's idea. He convinced us it was a joke. Cindy will tell you I'm her friend."

Lindsay fumed as Kevin again mentioned he was Cindy's friend, "Listen you big dumb ox, it is not a joke to break into someone's house, put a blanket over their head and drag them to a car. Who knows what you would've done had I not shown up. Then you try and get her fired and call yourself her friend?"

Kevin almost looked like he finally understood the severity of what he'd done, "When you put it that way it sounds so much worse. Look, I'll tell you everything Glenn did. I can't go to jail. I'd never last."

Jacobi pulled Lindsay off to the side, "You do know that it will be very hard to get a conviction on any of this?"

"I know, but he doesn't." Lindsay said, "At best he'll get a suspended sentence for his first offence and I'm not even sure Cindy wants to press charges against him. But Glenn needs to punished. I'll have to talk to Jill about what the legal options are."

"We can take Kevin downtown and make him sweat it out in a holding cell. Sometimes that's enough to shock some sense into people." Jacobi suggested, having plenty of experience dealing with petty criminals.

Lindsay nodded, "Okay then, let's find out who is accomplice was and then find Glenn and bring all three of them down to the station."

**San Francisco Register**.

Cindy turned off her computer, picked up her purse and made her way to the exit. As she walked out to her car Glenn walked up to her. She reached into her purse and pulled out her trusty can of mace, "Back off."

Glenn backed up and held up his hands, "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to say I'm sorry for what I did."

"Let me guess, you had a talk with the police and are trying to get me not to press charges." Cindy said, not impressed by Glenn's words.

"Not exactly," Glenn said with a sheepish grin, "I did go by Kevin's place and saw the cops were there and realized I'd probably gotten him into a whole lot of trouble."

"Yep, you probably did." Cindy said, still holding the can of mace in front of her.

"I admit I kind of lost it when I didn't get the job, but I honestly did not intent to hurt you. Just scare you." Glenn explained, doing his best to show Cindy he wasn't some hardened criminal.

"And get me fired." Cindy added quickly.

Glenn nodded, "Okay, that to, but I'm not evil, I'm just a sore loser and I'm here to say how sorry I am for everything I've done. Not just that, I've sent an email to Matton Industrial letting them know that you did not send them the email. I told them it was me, so you're off the hook there as well."

Cindy felt Glenn was sincere, but the memories of the other night were still highly unpleasant, "I'm glad you did that, but I'm not sure I can just forget this."

"That's fair enough." Glenn agreed, "I just wanted to let you know I'm sorry and I'll deal with whatever consequences there are. Could you find a way to make sure Kevin isn't charged with anything? He just went along with it because I convinced him it was a practical joke."

"I'm not sure I have any say." Cindy said, feeling a tad less freaked out as the conversation went on, "He did break into the house, so I'm not sure what will happen there. If you tell the police what you told me I don't see why they wouldn't go easy on him and maybe even you."

Glenn stepped to the side and backed further away from Cindy, "Well, I'll get out of your way and will go down and sort this all out."

"That's probably a very good idea." Cindy said, slowly lowering her mace as she walked past Glenn. She got into her car, locked the door quickly and drove off.

**Lindsay's Home.**

Lindsay walked into her house to find the lights on, which momentarily startled her, but as Cindy walked out to greet her she smiled and moved towards her. They kissed as soon as their lips were close enough.

It was a long, slow, sensual kiss, with Cindy sliding Lindsay's jacket off, letting it fall to the floor, her hands quickly sliding up and down Lindsay's body. Soft moans began to fill the room as the kiss became deeper and more passionate, their hands exploring every inch of the other's body.

Cindy slid her hands up over Lindsay's firm round breasts, caressing them over Lindsay's shirt, causing another soft moan to escape Lindsay's busy mouth. Pulling away from the kiss and breathing very heavy, Cindy leaned in and began unbuttoning Lindsay's shirt.

Not be outdone, Lindsay reached over Cindy's hands and began to pull off her cute pink t-shirt. It wasn't long before they were standing in their underwear, in the middle of the doorway, kissing passionately and anticipating everything that was to come next.

After taking another break to catch their breath, Lindsay took Cindy by the hand and led her down the hall to her bedroom. She closed the door, locked it and crawled up on the bed and lay down on her back.

Smiling widely, Cindy stopped at the edge of the bed, removed her bra, stepped out of her panties and crawled up on top of Lindsay and kissed her yet again. It was everything she ever dreamed it could be and more. Never had she felt this way when kissing anyone, like everything was perfect and nothing could ever change it. Just as Cindy had begun kissing her way down Lindsay's neck, a cell phone began to ring. Cindy tried to ignore it, moving down over Lindsay's breast, pushing aside her bra and caressing her nipple softly as the phone continued to ring. It was a distant sound as Lindsay's pants were in another room.

Lindsay sighed, "I have to get it. I'm sorry. I'll make it quick." She slid out of bed and ran down the hall and picked up her cell phone, "Boxer here?"

"Lindsay, I'm at Jill's place and I think something bad has happened to her." Claire said as she looked over the ransacked living room.

"Why are you at her place?"

"She was supposed to be spending the night here, but she said she needed to get a few things first. That was two hours ago. I called but I got no answer. I thought maybe she was just tired and fell asleep, but I needed to find out."

"If that place has been tossed, you need to get out of there now. Please get in your car, go home, lock the doors and stay there until you hear from me."

"Okay, but I'm scared for Jill. This feels really bad."

"I'll be over there as soon as I can." Lindsay let out another deep sigh as she walked slowly back to the bedroom, the look in her eyes was more than enough to tell Cindy what was going on.

"You have to leave right?" Cindy said, trying not to act too disappointed.

"Yes, it's Jill. I don't know what's going on, but she's missing and I need to find out why."

Cindy sat up in bed at the mention of Jill's name, "Missing?"

"It's a long story, her place has been ransacked and she didn't show up at Claire's, I have to find her."

"Of course." Cindy said, "Can I do anything to help?"

"That's sweet, but for now I'm going to have to do this on my own. I know if I need you that'll you be there for me."

"I know this important so do what you have to do, but be careful. I don't want to lose you." Cindy said as she crawled over to the edge of the bed.

Lindsay leaned in and kissed Cindy softly, wishing so much she could kiss her all night, "I better get going or I'll never leave. I'll be back as soon as I can, but don't wait up."

"I don't think I can sleep if you're not here." Cindy replied honestly.

"You should try, because I have no idea how long this will take." Lindsay smiled at Cindy and then walked back to the hallway, put on all her clothes and headed out the door.

Cindy fell back into bed, hoping Jill was okay.

** Jill's Home**.

Lindsay arrived at Jill's house and waited patiently for her backup to arrive, but when she heard gunshots she couldn't wait any longer. She rushed up to the front door, stepped inside and slowly made her way through Jill's house when heard a commotion out back.

As she tried to make out what was going on, she heard two gunshots ring out and a man fall to the ground just one floor below. Jill's house was on the edge of a small incline, with the deck being a couple stories off the ground.

Lindsay leaned over the railing and took aim at one of the men, "Put your weapon down and put your hands in the air."  
It took a few moments for the men to spot Lindsay, but as soon as they did they opened fire. Unlike the other shots that she heard, this time the bullets were flying at a rapid pace, courtesy of a semi automatic machine guns.

Lindsay tried to duck down but she felt a burning sensation in her shoulder, she then leaned over to return the fire and felt another burning sensation in her leg, pushing her backwards, causing her to stumble and as she hit the railing, she flew over the edge and fell hard into a large garbage bin.

A car drove past scaring the gunmen away.

Bleeding from her leg and shoulder and having a hard time breathing as her back felt like it was in a million pieces, she managed to reach into her pocket, pull out her cell phone and call Cindy.

Cindy rushed to the phone, "Lindsay?"

Barely able to move or breathe, Lindsay coughed numerous times as she tried to speak.

"Lindsay what is it? Where are you? Are you okay?" Cindy asked, fearing the worst.

"Cindy…I need you… to do something… for me…" Lindsay said in a very low whisper, coughing repeatedly as she tried to get enough air to speak.

Hearing Lindsay like that sent Cindy into full panic mode, "Oh god what is it? What's wrong? You don't sound good at all. Please tell me you're okay. Please."

It took all her willpower to keep from passing out, but Lindsay refused to give up, "I need you… to call 911…I've been shot…I fell and I'm not doing well."

"OMG, no, no, no." Cindy yelled, frantically spinning around the room, "Lindsay, where are you? You are not going to die. I'm calling now." She picked up the phone by Lindsay's night stand and called 911.

Lindsay tried to lean forward, but she just couldn't make it, "…Cindy, I need… you to be strong now…I'm at Jill's…out back." Lindsay let out a piercing scream as she felt an intense pain from her lower left side. She reached down and felt something inside her and managed to pull out a long pointy piece of hard plastic, covered in blood and knew that was the last thing she needed to see, "I don't know how much…time …I have left…but I need you to know…that today…was the best…day of my…life and I love you..." She said as her eyes glazed over and she fell unconscious.

**The End**.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the story. I hadn't planned this to be a cliff hanger, it just turned out that way. :) I think there are many story possibilities left and if people want to read more about it I'll be happy to continue.


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